Ironically, George Foreman is perhaps best known to the public through his promotion of the George Foreman Grill. But before that major transition in his life, he was most famous as boxing’s World Heavyweight Champion. But along the way, he also became a born-again Christian. In other words, he’s no one-trick pony, but a man of depth and complexity.
Foreman was born into modest circumstances with six siblings. He had a troubled youth, dropped out of school at age 15, and for a while was into mugging, but was never arrested. At age 16, he straightened himself out and enlisted in the Job Corps, a Department of Labor program that provided education and vocational training for youth aged 16 to 24. He received a high school diploma and learned the trades of carpentry and bricklaying. Around the same time, one of his supervisors began to train him as a boxer, for which Foreman had a natural talent.
Fast forward to 1968, Foreman won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, an achievement he thereafter claimed as being the highlight of his boxing career. He turned professional the following year and, after a string of critical wins, advanced to the pinnacle of boxing prowess, beating World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier in January 1973. At the time, Foreman had just turned 24. He subsequently defended his new title against two other contenders until the “Rumble in the Jungle” fight which he lost to Muhammad Ali. Following another loss in 1977 to Jimmy Young, Foreman had a spiritual epiphany and became a born-again Christian, after which he became an ordained minister and a pastor for his local church.
Ten years later he staged a comeback, and at age 45 took on 26-year-old opponent Michael Moorer to win the World Heavyweight Championship again. In doing so, he set three records all at once: (1) he became the oldest fighter, at age 45, to win a world championship; (2) this was the longest interval, 20 years, between his first and second world championships; and (3) the age difference, 19 years, between champion and challenger was the largest of any heavyweight championship fight. After several other high-profile fights, Foreman retired in 1998 for the second time, leaving an enviable track record as his legacy – 76 wins out of 81 fights.
Shortly thereafter, Foreman was approached by Salton, Inc. to provide a celebrity endorsement for a small portable fat-free grill they’d developed. After Foreman agreed to represent the product, which was subsequently marketed as the George Foreman Grill, he was paid $138 million for his endorsement. The grill became a popular item, and sold over 100 million units, for which Foreman’s 40% share of profits saw him receiving payouts of up to $4.5 million a month during peak sales periods.
Over the years, Foreman was married five times, and had five sons and seven daughters. And throughout most of his life, he was very active in both his church and community service, for which the American Legion honored him with its “Good Guy” award.
Foreman’s horoscope reveals a number of prominent yogas that reflect upon his life circumstances and accomplishments. But first, let’s review his graha avasthas, the condition of his planets. Lagnesh Sun occupies a friend’s sign in the 5th house associated with benefics, while the Moon is exalted and bright (full) in the 10th house. Mars is exalted in the 6th house from whence it aspects the lagna, meanwhile associated with an ordinary Mercury. Jupiter is swa-rashi in the 5th house, associated with the Sun and Venus. Saturn is bright (retrograde) in the lagna. Rahu and Ketu are ordinary in the 9th and 3rd houses, respectively.
There are three Dharma-karma Adhipati yogas in the 5th house: 1st lord Sun with 5th lord Jupiter, 1st lord Sun with 10th lord Venus, and 5th lord Jupiter with 10th lord Venus, the latter of which forms a true Raja yoga. This cluster expressed itself through noble thoughts, education, children, arts and entertainment, and spiritual inclinations.
Since Mars is the 9th lord and Mercury is a two-time money lord of the 2nd and 11th, their association in the 6th house creates two Dhana yogas. Mars is powerful and aspects the lagna, a pattern often seen in fighters, martial artists and other competitive types.
As a strong and well-placed dispositor of lagnesh Sun, his swa-rashi Jupiter creates Parvata yoga. This suggests a diplomat or emissary of sorts, which in his case played out in both product endorsement and ministry. The influence of prime benefic Jupiter on both lagna and lagnesh ensured good health and his “good guy” persona.
Foreman even has a relatively rare albeit watered-down Pushkala yoga, wherein the Moon’s dispositor Venus is well-placed while at the same time the lagna is aspected by a strong benefic, ie, Jupiter. This can often bring wealth, fame and honors of one kind or another, all of which were true of Foreman.
Last but certainly not least, given the huge effect of his religious experience in life, Foreman has two relatively rare spiritual yogas in his horoscope. The first is a modest version of Srikanta yoga, formed when all three of lagnesh, Sun and Moon are strong in good houses. Here, the Sun plays a dual role, and occupies a friendly sign with two benefics, while the Moon is exalted in the 10th house. The second is Virinchi yoga, formed when all three of 5th lord, Jupiter and Saturn are strong in good houses. Here, Jupiter plays a dual role, and is swa-rashi in the 5th house, while Saturn is bright (retrograde) in the lagna. Taken together, these two spiritual yogas, each of which benefit from a strong Jupiter’s influence on the atma Sun and all three trikonas, are the mark of someone who’s experienced the grace of God.
Foreman ran Mars dasha age 10 to 17. These were his rough years, when the combative tendency of Mars played out in truancy and mugging, until he learned some useful trades and discovered his talent for boxing.
He ran Rahu dasha from age 17 to 35. Periods of the nodes can often be complex, combining as they do the multiple influences of other grahas in the chart. In Foreman’s case, Rahu primarily gives results for two grahas – Mars which both aspects and disposes Rahu, and Jupiter which simply aspects the node. Mars clearly dominates here, and indeed these were Foreman’s prime fighting years. He won Olympic gold in October 1968 during Rahu-Rahu, his first World Heavyweight Championship in January 1973 during Rahu-Saturn, his loss to Muhammad Ali in October 1974 during Rahu-Mercury, and his “traumatic” loss to Jimmy Young in March 1977 during Rahu-Ketu, after which he experienced a spiritual epiphany.
As a proxy for Mars, Rahu’s dasha also denoted marital problems for Foreman. Mars is a powerful malefic in the 6th house, a “double dusthana” for relationships, since the 6th is also the 12th from the 7th. He was married (briefly) four times during his Rahu dasha. As a proxy for a powerful 5th lord Jupiter as well, Rahu’s dasha also denoted children for Foreman. Indeed, during this dasha he fathered the majority of his 12 children.
He ran Jupiter dasha age 35 to 51. This was the period when he staged his comeback, won the World Heavyweight Championship a second time, retired a second time, and went on to sign the lucrative endorsement deal for the George Foreman Grill. Jupiter gives results not only for itself, but also its nakshatra dispositor Venus. Now recall that Jupiter and Venus form Raja yoga, along with two other yogas involving lagnesh Sun in the 5th house, and we can understand why this was such a successful period for him.
Foreman also married for the fifth and final time early in his Jupiter dasha. Note that swa-rashi Jupiter occupies the 5th house, wherein it associates with marital karaka Venus and aspects his 7th lord Saturn. Two of his daughters were born to his fifth wife, with whom he remained the rest of his life.
He ran Saturn dasha age 51 to 70. These were the steady, solid years of his life which saw stability in his marriage (7th lord Saturn aspects its own house) and service to his community (Saturn is a strong 6th lord) through ministry.
He ran Mercury dasha age 70 to 76. Again, a continuance of service, along with health issues (Mercury afflicted in the 6th) and ultimately death (Mercury as maraka lord of the 2nd.)
“Big George” had it all – big fists, big family, big heart, big life.
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Alan Annand is a Vedic astrologer, palmist and author. He’s a graduate of the British Faculty of Astrological Studies and was for many years their sole tutor for students in USA and Canada. After being introduced to jyotish, he was certified by the American College of Vedic Astrology, and went on to enjoy advanced instruction from Hart de Fouw. Aside from consulting and tutoring, he has long been a professional writer, straddling the corporate and creative worlds. His New Age Noir crime novels feature an astrologer protagonist whom one reviewer has dubbed “Sherlock Holmes with a horoscope.” His books on Vedic astrology – Kala Sarpa, Parivartana Yoga, and Stellar Astrology, Vols 1-4 – have been praised for the quality of their research and writing. His latest book – Kama Yoga: Love, Marriage & Sexuality in Jyotish – is a complete guide to personal relationships as seen through the lens of Vedic astrology.
Services on Website: http://www.navamsa.com
Lessons on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlanAnnand
Books on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Annand/e/B0052MM0PO
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